Meaning
by Liquid Butterfly
Summary: Vlad/Danny bonding and such. AU alternate ending to TUE, The ultimate enemy. 'Don't you see, Daniel? All we have is each other'. Warnings: possible slash, depressive/angst, may be some language.
1. Chapter 1

**Meaning**

Danny simply stared at the charred bodies that were once his friends and family. They were burned almost beyond recognition and one or two of them even had limbs missing. But they were most definitely them…

"Mr Fenton," The morgue worker began, "As I'm sure you already know, I need you to confirm that these bodies are who we think they are; Jack, Maddie and Jazz Fenton; are these your family?" The man spoke with a harsh voice, not sympathetic in the least and completely uninterested – this was just another day at the office for him. Surely, it wouldn't hurt to at least try sounding a little more understanding of the situation. He was wearing clear-plastic gloves like a surgeon and the cuffs of his greying-white scientist-style coat were stained with what looked like blood. _But who knows, maybe he just put too much tomato ketchup on his takeaway._Danny mentally slapped himself, it had been less than a few hours since they died; now here he was at two o'clock in the morning and instead of focussing on his deceased loved ones he was pondering on about how weird the morgue staff were. _Get a grip._

"Yes, it's definitely them." Danny said, doing his blessed best to hide the quiver in his voice. "I can tell because I saw it happen, that and my mom and dad are both wearing their wedding rings. And look, there's Jazz's star-necklace, she got that for getting A-grades in all her exams last year." The look in his eyes was distraught but the tears were trapped in his eyes never to be shed. Crying is a sign of weakness, and weak is one thing that Danny Phantom simply was not.

"And the teenagers, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, the bodies belong to them?"  
"Yes. You said you found this ring in her pocket, 'Sam', I gave her this. And Tucker's PDA with the ghost related upgrades, it's his."

"Thank you, Sir, you've been a great help." He reached forward and covered each body up with a plastic sheet, before pushing each individual trolley into large, separate, metal doors and closing them, before scribbling their names and dates-of-death on them. "You can go now, get out of here kid." So much for last words, oh well. They were just flesh now and lifeless flesh can't hear you no matter how much you want it to.

He looked outside and saw a social worker. Young woman, blonde and petite and flicking through a blue a4 sized file with "Daniel Fenton" written on the font cover. She seemed to be muttering something to herself and he decided to go outside and find out.

"Ah! Daniel! How nice to meet you. Allow me to introduce myself; Annette, Miss Annette Jones. And I'll be your social worker from now on. I'm truly sorry for your loss. We should get inside, it's cold out here at this time of night and you should be in bed at this hour. No need to worry though, you won't be attending school tomorrow so there'll be no need for you to get up early." More like _'So sorry I had to get up at this ungodly hour._' She opened the door to a large silver Jeep and gestured for him to get in, before climbing in her self at the driver's side and opening Danny's file.

"It says here that Vlad Masters is your next of kin and he is located in Wisconsin. We'll get you to a hotel for the night, and then in the morning you can tie up any loose ends. I'll sort out transport with Mr. Masters." Danny didn't really answer anything the woman said with more than a nod in acceptance with a "Yeah whatever" every now and then. To tell the truth, her words barely registered, he was too lost in thought to care what she was nattering about.

"Well, here we are. Not much I'm afraid, but I'm sure it'll do for a night." They climbed out of the car and walked into a tall building that Danny must have been past hundreds of times but never actually noticed it was there. Outside it just looked like a regular building with the word "HOTEL" written on the front, but the inside was quite difference. Polished wood floors and cream wallpaper, everything looked spick-and-span –cleaned to perfection. Yet it still had that homey feel about it, sandy sofas and a television with a news report about the accident that had happened only hours before.

"One room, please." Miss Jones and the man at the front desk exchanged polite chit-chat, but Danny was more drawn to the television.

"Little is known about the events at the Nasty Burger earlier tonight, but there are rumours that it was caused by an over-heated tank of nasty-sauce exploding. This disaster claimed the lives of two adults and three children leaving only one survivor who is said to be devastated at losing his friends and family." Only seconds after the report, Danny felt his mobile (cell) phone vibrating in his back pocket. He flipped it open and looked at the screen – no caller information, just a number: s number that he'd recognise anywhere.

"…Vlad?"

"Daniel."

They must have only spent a few seconds in absolute silence but it felt like a hell of a lot longer. Neither of them knew what to say to the other, until Vlad, being the older, decided that it was his responsibility to get-the-ball-rolling so to speak.

"What happened? Are you okay?" How strange, those words almost sounded as if Vlad cared. Being that they were the first sympathetic words anyone had said to Danny so far, the first ones that sounded meaningful anyway, Danny decided to dignify them with a response.

"There was an explosion… everyone died." He muttered. Vlad waited a few seconds and when it came apparent that he wasn't going to elaborate, he spoke again.

"I saw on the news, but what exactly happened?"

"They all died, Vlad." He paused, "And it was my fault."

Vlad heard a click, Danny had hung up.

"Thanks, Miss Jones." Danny muttered as she handed him a drawstring bad complete with a toothbrush and toothpaste, a bar of soap and some white pyjamas.

"Call me Annette, and no problem. The police wont let anyone in your house including me, so I'm afraid this stuff will have to do for tonight. Now, here's your room key. The maid will wake you up tomorrow at 10am, there's a self-service breakfast bar just over there, and I want you in the lobby for 11am sharp. Got that? Good. Bye for now!" And she left. Danny inspected the card in his hand, how high-tech, opening a door with what looks like a credit card. It looked just like the key he 'borrowed' to the guys-in-white's top secret base. He was aware of his phone ringing in his pocket, but didn't answer it. He knew who it was.

_Here we are, room 334_. He slid the card in the door and it didn't unlock. Damn it, after the hike up the stairs it had better not be faulty. Luckily the second time it did open. The room wasn't anything amazing, but it was nice. Everything was clean and tidy, nothing like his room at home. A large double bed in the centre with crystal white covers and large fluffy pillows, it looked very comfortable. The window was open ever so slightly with the curtains swaying slightly in the twilight breeze. At the foot of the bed was an oak desk with a plain black television, it wasn't widescreen so it must have been old, however credit must be shown to the oh-so-brilliant caretakers as age didn't actually show. It had been left on a white screen with writing on it explaining how to use it. _Doesn't take a genius_, Danny thought as he switched it off. No use wasting electricity, he had no intension of watching TV tonight. In the corner of the room was an open door leading to a smallish bathroom. The design was simple just like the bedroom; a shower cubicle with Dove© shampoo and conditioner, a hot radiator with fluffy towels, a toilet and a sink. On the sink was a neatly folded face-towel with a bar of soap and a packet of tissues on top. Aw, how kind of the hotel staff to go to so much trouble. Closing the bathroom door he placed the bag on the side and took out the toothbrush and paste, and after cleaning his teeth climbed into the shower. The water was nice and warm. It was now that Danny realised exactly how filthy he was, covered in dust and debris from the explosion. He became aware of the extent of his injuries; bruised ribs and deep gashes everywhere. Funny, he hadn't felt them at all but now they hurt like hell. His arm had four deep claw-like cuts which looked incredibly like self-harm wounds. That wouldn't rub off well with social services – a miracle they hadn't noticed it before.

He washed his hair and, when he was sure all the dirt was gone, became intangible to dry him self and stepped out of the shower. He pulled the pyjamas out of the bag and frowned, these things looked like they belonged to a mental patient. All plain and… ugh. He put on the bottoms and left the top where it fell in the bathroom. He flicked off the main light leaving only the lamp on the bedside table. He placed his phone on the table, before turning of the lamp, climbing in to bed and closing his tired eyes.

And it was then, when he was sat in bed with nothing to concentrate on other than sleep, that the events of the past day hit him like a brick. He took is a raspy breath and tried to hold back the tears that threatened to spill down his face, but it was a pointless effort and he finally gave up, allowing himself to cry and cry and cry. He silently prayed that someone would help him, that somehow his family and friends survived and that this was all just a cruel joke that would end soon. No such luck.

His phone began to vibrate on the side, making a horrible grinding noise. Better than a loud obnoxious ring-tone. He'd changed the settings to 'silent/vibrate' a long time ago, probably right about when he began ghost fighting. He had to, because if his friends were in trouble with a ghost he was the first person they'd contact, and he couldn't have a loud tune bellowing out in the middle of math class whenever anyone needed help… All that didn't matter now. Danny had no intentions whatsoever of going back to school… or anything else for that matter. His soul purpose as a hero was to protect the ones he loved, and he failed. Now there was no one to protect other than the so called 'innocent' people who didn't deserve it. The relationship between the people of Amity Park and Danny Phantom was similar to Britney Spears and the press – they built her up and up yet as soon as she reached the top they dragged her straight back down.

That's the human race for you; they use, they take everything, then throw you away like the worthless waste of space they portray you to be.

But he didn't loose his fame – he lost his family, his two best friends, the only people in the entire world who he truly cared about, and who truly cared about him. A desperate loneliness ached inside his heart, like an itch he couldn't scratch.

The phone continued to vibrate. He knew it was Vlad before he'd checked. He couldn't speak to the man, he just couldn't. He answered the phone and held it by his ear, not speaking nor making a sound, just listening.

"Daniel? Are you there?" He heard Vlad's voice, but didn't respond to it. "I understand… You don't feel like talking.

"I'm here." The words came out cold and empty, exactly the way he wanted them too.

"Your social worker contacted me earlier. I agreed to her terms, you'll be moving to Wisconsin tomorrow, I'll have a room ready for you. I want you to understand Daniel; I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I always wanted you as my son and apprentice, which you already know, but not under these circumstances. I'm sorry for your loss. I know what it's like to feel alone in your head…" He stopped talking and waited, he waited and waited and waited but Danny did not respond. Vlad assumed he had fallen asleep.

"Love you." The line went dead as Vlad hung up. That word: _love,_ had Vlad ever used it before? Danny frowned as he flipped his phone shut and placed it back on the bedside table. He rolled over onto his back and gazed unseeingly at the ceiling. The pillow was damp from his tears but he didn't really care. Discomfort didn't matter, he probably wouldn't sleep much anyway.

The night seemed to draw on forever. Danny lay in bed thinking about the accident, playing the events over and over like a record player.

Play, repeat. Play, repeat. Play, repeat.

The looks on their faces before they died… Each of them with faces full of terror, pleading with their eyes that Danny would get up and help them. But he couldn't – it all happened so fast – his muscles weighed a ton and every bone in his body was screaming with agony yet all he could think about was helping his friends _and he still failed._

He crawled down the bed and reached out for the television, switching it on and grabbing the remote.

"Welcome to Lakeside Hotel, Daniel Fenton. The current time is 6:52 am.

For hotel information and opening times, press 1

For television, press 2"

"You have pressed 1 for hotel information and opening times.

He pressed 1. The breakfast bar opens Monday - Friday at 7:30am and will remain open until 11am and 10am – midday on weekends.

The bar is open 24 hours a day

The pool is open 24 hours a day, but is only supervised from 10am – 10pm

For more information, please check with the front desk in the lobby. Press 2 to watch television."

He began flicking through the channels. As you can imagine, there wasn't much to choose from. Channel one, a documentary about global warming. Channel two, adverts – how annoying is that? Channel three, crappy 90's comedy re-runs. Channel four, blues clues? Who'd have their kid up at this hour? Channel five, an old black and white war movie, the kind your grandma watches when she manages to snag the TV remote. Channel six, the news. Danny was a little taken back when he saw his own house huddled with news reporters and helicopters. Did they really think he was there, alone?

What a bunch of _numpties._Jack used that word a lot to describe stupid people. Normally, Danny would grin at the smallest mention of the word - numpty, such a daft nickname. But all that remained was pain. Happy memories, define a happy memory? You get the good with the bad and the good. The only thing that came from remembering the happy times was the realisation that he'd never experience such times again and that he'd probably never again find love or acceptance. And even if he did (which in it's self seemed very unlikely) - life isn't a fairytale. Loved ones can never, ever be replaced. That cold empty feeling will reside in one's heart till the day they die.

"_We now go life to the scene of the accident. Harriet Jones, what is your take on this tragic accident?" _

"_Good evening. I am here at what once was the Nasty Burger where three young teens lost their lives alongside Jack and Maddie Fenton, who were old acquaintances of mine from my college years. For anyone who has just tuned in, there was an explosion here that claimed a total of five lives and left a teenage boy orphan. They have just recovered another body of an out-of-shape teacher known by locals as 'Mr. Lancer', a teacher at Casper High. The evidence found by local forensics suggests that these innocent people fell victim to what police describe as a tragic 'accident' and therefore no criminal charges will be placed. This young man, Dash Baxter, claims to have seen the whole thing. Dash, what happened here?" _

"_It was terrifying dude! Danny Phantom was there, and he made this like huge ghost ray that killed the bad guy, but he used up all his power and fell to his knees. His hair turned black – I think he might be half-human or something. I didn't see his face though, there was too much dust. The next thing I knew there was a massive explosion! It was so cool!" _

"_Thank you for that, sir. And now back to the studio." _

"_That's terrible. We have a statement here from the Amity Park police force, it says that anyone who saw or heard anything about the explosion should contact the on-screen helpline at once. Moving on to a charity event at …"_

"Dash is such an idiot! _'It was so cool',_ he'll pay for that one."Danny growled, climbing out of bed and reaching for his clothes. Dirty, smelly and dusty. No thanks. He transformed into his half-ghost alter ego and flew through the window, heading for the mall.

He walked quietly to his favourite clothes store, invisibly of course. The shop was closed and only dimly lit, very creepy. He reached for his favourite, shirt, white with red rims and a logo on the chest, but then his hand stopped in mid-air. No, that wouldn't cover all the injuries from the fight with future-Phantom and the last thing he wanted was questions. Instead he picked up a plain black button-up shirt with long sleeves, like the kind men wear in a suit. Any other colour wouldn't do at all – he didn't want Dash's blood stains to ruin a brand new top after he'd gone to all this trouble to steal one. A pair of dull, blue jeans and red converse and he was good to go.

He'd forgotten all about beating up Dash by the time he got to the hotel, now all he wanted to do was eat. Surely it must be 7:30 by now. He checked the clock on his phone before shoving it into his back pocket. 7:29 Am. That's just cruel.

The lobby was still quiet and the staff all looked half asleep. The breakfast bar had a room of its own. The entire back-wall was glass allowing a lovely view of the lake. He walked to the counter just as a woman placed down a nice fresh batch of hot croissants. Délicieux. He grabbed one and almost burned his fingers. Sitting down on a window-side table he gazed at the family outside. A posh business man in an expensive-looking suit on the phone, his tie unfastened. The woman who appeared to be his wife came and fastened it for him, smiling lovingly and kissing him sweetly on the cheek. A little girl stood a few metres away feeding the swans. When the bread was gone she ran up to her father who, when he'd put his phone away, swung her up into his arms. Within minutes they were gone. To where? Who knows – by the looks of it the man had a meeting, but after they could be planning to; judging by the picnic basket, rolled up towels and sunhats; go to the beach. And in those few seconds, Danny could imagine himself as a child, happy with his parents and ready to go for a fun-filled day. The moment was ruined when an elderly-looking lady picked up the crumb-filled plate and held a large jug in Danny's face.

"Coffee?" She said sweetly. Her hair was white and slightly curly, tied up at the side and falling down her left shoulder in a cluster of snowdrop ringlets. She smiled, "Sir? Would you like some coffee?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, yeah please." She poured the steaming-hot drink into a cup and reached into her apron, taking out a couple of small sachets of milk. Danny noticed a wedding ring on her finger. It was cold with tiny amethyst jewels and, in the tiniest writing he'd ever seen, said 'love'.

"Is something bothering you, son?" She said, her peaceful blue eyes focussed on Danny's. "I can tell there is. You look a lot like my grandson, y'know, and I can always tell when there's something wrong with him."

"Have you seen the news this morning?" Danny said with a sad smile. "My name is Danny, Danny Fenton."

"Oh? Oh…" She sat down in the seat across from him and placed a comforting hand on his, "They were your family and friends? I'm so very sorry for your loss. If there's anything I can do…"

"Nah, I'll be fine, thanks. Nice meeting you," he looked at her name tag, "Angela."

"Oi! Waitress, get over here!" A Scottish man, he didn't sound very friendly.

"Ah, I have to go. I knew that man would make a fuss the second I saw him stumbling in drunk last night. Nice meeting you, Danny." She stood up, tucked the chair in neatly and left.

Time flew by, gazing out of the window and eating free food whenever he felt bored; 10:55am arrived in no time and as expected, he was having second thoughts. Living with Vlad? Come on. Maybe he should tell the social workers that the cuts on his arms were from trying to kill himself, then he could get locked up in a mental asylum on suicide watch and live out the rest of his life in a billionaire-free soft white room. No, that wouldn't work, Vlad's very smart and he'd find him. To live with his worst enemy, dine with him… To call him father? Well – definitely not the latter.

"I must be insane… I gotta get outta here!" Danny whispered to himself. He stood up and ran towards the nearest hiding place to transform and make his get away. But as luck would have it, he crashed into Annette on his way.

Typical. Typical, typical, typical.

"Oh! Daniel, I was just coming to look for you. How did you sleep?" She sounded like a completely different person than last night. She seemed very cheerful, a care-bear friendly attitude and had a grin that lit up the whole lobby.

"Don't_ever_ call me that." She looked confused, she didn't need to open her mouth as her facial expression pretty much covered 'what are you talking about?' and 'look who woke up on the wrong side of the bed'.

"My name is Danny. Didn't sleep a wink, how about you?" He did the mental equivalent of kicking himself in the shin._ Never talk to a lady like that, it's rude. It isn't her fault some kid has been dumped on her like this._

"Oh, I slept fine thanks, but there are more pressing matters at hand. Mr. Masters has organised a private jet to fly you out to his home in Wisconsin. We can stop off at your house if you want, to get personal belongings and such. We'll have to be careful of the paparazzi, they're everywhere."

"Okay. I'll meet you at the airport, bye!" Danny ran, he just ran. He jumped onto the roof of a passing car and sprang from that, transforming into Danny Phantom and flying to his house as fast as a bullet. As an afterthought he hoped that no one saw him, but the only important thing was that he got home and spent as much time there as possible.

He arrived through his own bedroom window. There were reporters camped outside of his house, how sad. They weren't going to get a story from Danny, so all they had gained was a wasted night and probably a cold. He went around the house closing the curtains; the press would probably break the door down if they saw him.

He grabbed a duffel bag from his parents' room and stuffed in a few items of clothing and underwear. Lifting up his mattress he revealed a plain black wallet, which went in the bag too. On his bedside table was a photo… He remembered when it was taken. It was a rainy day, cold and miserable. Danny, Sam and Tucker on a normal school day in a normal photo. Sam liked the colours, she said that "It's raining and miserable yet we're still cheerful. It shows how strong our friendship is."

He most certainly couldn't leave that behind, and of course, he needed one of his parents too. The family photo was equally as important - it resided on the bookshelf; Jack, Maddie, Jazz and Danny all looking happy and content. Danny had thought his life was bad enough before, but without them it scarcely bared thinking about.

He went to the lab and noticed that the door was locked. The spare key was hidden on top of the door frame and was covered in dust and what looked like moulding jelly. On the bright side, that meant that the police hadn't gained access to the lab… let. How embarrassing for them. He unlocked the door and walked down those oh-so-familiar stairs leading to the laboratory. He took a moment to stare into the swirling, green abyss that was one of only two portals into the ghost zone in existence, before closing it and giving it several password locks and a secret question that only he would ever know the answer too. The world was not ready for the ghost zone quite yet. He proceeded to destroy the rest of the lab, ranging from the BOO-merang to the ecto-mic bomb. Thermoses, weapons and old coffee mugs saying 'worlds best mom' – everything had to go. If this equipment fell into the wrong hands, the guys in white for example, it could lead to a multi-dimensional war.

After taking one last look around the house he lived in for fifteen years, he left it for the last time.

So one pointless conversation, agonisingly long plane ride and very uncomfortable experience with a fat guy later, Danny was finally in Wisconsin. He climbed out of the limo to be greeted by Vlad, whose facial expression was as unreadable as ever. Danny did notice that the black-rings around his eyes seemed a lot thicker, and he had slight bags under his eyes which in itself happened to be very unusual for Vlad as the man never seemed to show his age. Perhaps he had a good surgeon or…

Vlad didn't say a word; he just waved the limo off and stood beside him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. Danny turned around and took hold of Vlad's wrist, "Vlad, we need to talk."

"Yes we do, about you living here, you mean?"

"No. I meant it when I said that it was my fault, and I need to make sure no more people die because of it… I've seen the future, Vlad, and I can't let it happen." There was an awkward silence, and needless to say Vlad looked quite confused.

"Well, let's go inside. It's freezing out here."

They sat in the lavish living room. The sofas were expensive black leather, they still smelt brand new. Danny had always liked that leathery smell. The walls were a deep red and the room had the most gorgeous wooden flooring that you could almost clearly see your own reflection.

"So, you wanted to talk?" Danny picked up his glass of water and ran his finger nervously around the rim in a repetitive circular motion.

"Yeah… I'm going to tell you what happened during the time approaching _their_ deaths, and you are going to listen and believe what you hear. I have no reason to lie to you Vlad. I mean this when I say it, if you don't believe me then I'll leave now."

"Daniel you really don't have to, I don't blame you for what happened to them."

"The whole chain of events was triggered by me planning to cheat on my C.A.T. exams. With the whole 'ghost fighting' and such, I didn't have time to study, so I figured that cheating wasn't so bad on my part. That decision killed everyone I love. This is really hard to explain, but this is how things were _supposed_to happen; my teacher, Mr. Lancer, arranged to meet my parents at the Nasty Burger to discuss how I cheated on the exam and the freak explosion would kill them all. I moved here with you distraught with grief and you took pity on me, granting my wishes to be free of all emotion. Things didn't go as planned. What you actually did was split my ghost and human halves apart, causing a severe split-personality and making my ghost half pure evil. His first act was to turn on you and merge with your ghost half creating the ultimate enemy. The second was to brutally murder the now-human me. The third was to… kill. Anyone and anything that crossed his path would die. It was a horrible place…" His head was tilted forwards causing his hair to cover his eyes. It served as the perfect mask, hiding the tears that threatened to spill.

"Okay, so that's how things were supposed to happen, but how _did_things happen?"

"Mostly thanks to Clockwork's interference, 'Dan Phantom' as he called himself found a way to access the present and to ensure his own creation, he planned to make sure things happened as they were supposed to. After meeting you in the future, I was so sure that Id…" His voice began to shake, "I was sure that I'd be able to stop him and save everyone. I was wrong. I caught him alright and the thermos is with Clockwork, but I didn't save them." A tear trickled down his nose and landed with a silent 'plop' on the floor.

"And you're sure this wasn't just a dream? Your mind may be playing tricks on you –wouldn't be the first time- and…" He said with almost-usual smugness.

"No!" He stood up, not caring about the tears now falling freely down his cheeks. "Vlad, this is important! I am telling the truth!" He reached forward and grabbed the man's collar, pulling his face towards his own and only stopped when their faces were inches apart. "If you don't believe me, you might as well just kill me now." He growled in a low voice, before throwing Vlad back in his seat and going to his room. Vlad wasn't sure if he was storming off or running away. One thing was for sure though; he had never seen that look in Danny's eye before. He looked… completely torn apart and just a little insane.

Danny walked into his new 'room' and unintentionally slammed the door. He grabbed the duffel bag from the bed and removed the two photographs before flinging the bag to the floor and jumping onto the bed on his belly. He stared at the two photos and placed the one of his family on the bedside table, but kept the one of him and his two best friends at hand. A large crack adorned the crack going right between he and his two friends – it must have happened during his journey to this wretched place he had to call home. The long crack was an everlasting reminder that he had been left alone in this cruel, anti-ghost world. He placed the photo beside the other and stood up, floating through the floor and back to the living room. He shouldn't have yelled at Vlad. Heck – if he'd just been told that story he'd doubt its truth. He poked his head through the rather grand double doors and saw Vlad, reading a book and swirling what looked like very expensive whisky in a glass. The whole picture looked very depressing.

_No matter how much I hate him, I must remember that he's hurting too. _

He knocked three times on the door before taking a few paces towards Vlad, who didn't move his head from the book.

"Vlad; I came to apologise." The man looked up, one eyebrow raised. "I shouldn't have shouted at you like that, especially after you let me stay here."

"Ah. It's alright little badger. I believe what you say. After all as you said, you have no reason to lie to me."

"Are you sure? Because I meant what I said, I'd rather you kill me than let me become that _monster_."

"Wouldn't anyone? Here, want a drink?" _Was he offering Danny alcohol? _

"No thanks. Slowing down my reaction times is the last thing I need right now."

"Why do you say that?" Danny simply shrugged as saying 'I don't trust you not to plan something against me' didn't sound right, and 'I'm too scared that Dan will show up' just made him sound paranoid. Danny sat back on the sofa, facing away from Vlad.

"Even now; even now I wish my emotions would just go away. I've had such bad injuries in the past; I've been beaten to a bloody pulp and put in hospital more times than I can count, but this? This is what pain really is." Danny heard Vlad's glass being put down on the floor along with the book. At least he was listening. "I know you Vlad, and I have my doubts about whether or not you are plotting…" He was silenced by Vlad placing a finger against his lips.

"I'm not plotting anything." Vlad gently raised Danny's chin, an action that before would be seen an uncaring in its tenderness, but now everything was different. "Look at me." Danny's eyes were downcast, but he soon found himself staring directly into Vlad's. "I'm not going to hurt you, Daniel. Don't you see? All we have is each other."

--

Danny was laid on the roof of Vlad's mansion staring emptily at the skies above. There were no stars and the narrow crescent moon barely shone through the thick black clouds. One word and one word alone could summarise the weather – cruel. Icy temperatures, violent gushes of winds and judging by the clouds, rain was on its way too. Quite unusual for this time of year, perhaps the heavens were mourning too.

He wasn't thinking much about his parents as the only thing left to think about was the future, but that hurt too much. No, what was really bothering him was Vlad's sudden kindness, mainly his most recent experience with the man. '_All we have is each other.'_ What did that mean, exactly? Perhaps he was right, Danny had lost everything he cared about and Vlad didn't have much in the first place. It maybe that he really did want to be Danny's father figure… or that he wanted assistance in taking over the world. _'Why is everything making me so confused?'_

Needless to say, he didn't trust Vlad… much. To be honest, he was expecting Plasmius to jump out any minute now and attack him, kick a lion whilst it's down so to speak.

But he didn't…. Not to attack anyway.

"This is where I come to think alone too." Danny heard Vlad's voice but didn't jump.

"Yeah well… You being here is kind of defeating the object of '_alone'_, isn't it?" He turned around to see Vlad in his ghost form. _Is he going to attack?_

"You should come inside. You must be freezing out here in just a shirt."

"Did you just come up here to fuss about me not wearing a jacket? Because I should tell you, the nagging-mother act doesn't suit you one bit."

"Actually, yes, I wanted to see how you were doing."

"Top of the world, how are you?" He replied in a sarcastic tone.

"I'd be better if you stopped shutting me out."

"That's rich coming from you. Give me one good reason why I would open up to you, and besides, there's nothing_ left_ to discuss." He spoke in a quiet, empty voice and had remained in his human state. Vlad couldn't help but think, was it an act of trust… _or an act of madness._

"I've put a roof over your head, show a little gratitude."

"That makes everything you've done to me in the past year alright? Pull the other one, Vlad; I know exactly what you are up to. This woolly-headed kindness won't fool me."

"I've told you once and I'll tell you again, I'm sorry for what I've done and I promise that I won't hurt you again; ever."

"I don't trust you."

"Then why, might I ask, haven't you transformed into Phantom?"

"Because nothing you can do will truly hurt me."

"What?"

"If a fight is what you want then fire at will – but you mean nothing to me, you can't hurt my feelings, that pain that lasts."

"Oh? Then tell me, what does this mean!?" Vlad punched Danny in the face, harder than he'd meant to. In fact, he didn't mean to punch the boy at all, he just lost his temper. He pulled his fist back and looked questioningly at the boy. Danny slowly turned his head back to face Vlad. Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth and there was already a bruise starting to form.

"It means that nothing has changed between us, and that nothing ever will." His words were cold and void of emotion, although there seemed to be a flicker of betrayal in his eyes, it only lasted a second though – blink and you'd miss it.

"Then… what does this mean?" Within moments Plasmius was human again, and holding Danny in a comforting – perhaps even loving embrace. Danny knew that although Vlad's hold was strong, he could get away easily by going intangible. He just didn't _want_to. He chose to remain silent for the few moments it lasted before Vlad stepped away; not removing his hand from Danny's face where he had just minutes ago punched him. "I'm sorry for this, I truly am." And with that he left, floating through the floor and going god-knows where.

_Great, Vlad just caused me another sleepless night._

**TO BE CONTINUED…**


	2. Chapter 2

Meaning

Chapter 2

Danny lay in bed, tossing and turning for the best part of the night. The bed was like a cloud, soft and fluffy. He didn't think he'd ever slept in such a comfortable bed before in his life – yet still he found himself wide awake at five o'clock in the morning staring into… well nothing. The room was absolutely pitch black, and being that they were in the middle of nowhere with no street lamps, this wasn't surprising in the least. Perhaps it was because he was sleeping in a different place that he wasn't used to, or that he was too on edge about Vlad and his evil plans or whatnot, who knows?

Now, Vlad was a problem. No matter how much he thought up different scenarios in his mind, they all lead to something bad. He went over it again and again and again. What could Vlad possibly be planning? To kill him in his sleep, the kind and painless way, to receive all the money Danny's parents had left him? Perhaps he intended to erase his real memories and replace them with new ones of 'Danny Masters'…

Or maybe Danny was just incredibly paranoid.

But circumstance didn't really matter as he was still left with one stinking problem – he couldn't sleep and a sleepless night meant that he'd be tired for the duration of the next day and therefore unable to keep an eye out for Vlad.

Suddenly, the door knob turned and the door slowly creaked open. He quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Now was not the time for some kind of sappy father-son chitchat of a lie.

Vlad peered round the not even half-open door and saw Danny sleeping away. The boy's hair was covering part of his face, but messy as it was, the bruise forming on his cheek was in clear view, and there was also a scrape where his ring had cut him. He frowned at the sight of it and the fact that it would heal itself in less than a day or two did little to ease his conscience. Tip-toeing over to where Danny lay, he reached in his pocket, revealing a square bandage and some white medical tape. Carefully placing the bandage over the injury, he began to tape it down with extreme delicacy. He didn't want to wake him as that could be potentially disastrous. As he drew his hand away, he paused for a moment, gazing at the angelic face before him - such a tortured soul. He gently traced the back of his fingers over Danny's cheek. He leaned forward and whispered into his ear.

"I'm sorry for this… I truly am." His voice sounded sincere enough. He sighed and stood up, leaning over and kissing Danny on the forehead, and leaving.

Danny had fallen asleep, however this was a luxury that he wasn't going to get much of. The quiet sound of the door closing was enough to wake him.

He opened the wardrobe revealing a rack full of brand new clothes, all in Danny's size and expensive looking. Vlad sure was prepared. He reached in and took out a shirt and a pair of jeans, similar to what he was wearing the other day. After doing the usual teeth-brushing hair-brushing face-washing routine, he went downstairs.

He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water, before going to the living room. Vlad was watching the news and drinking coffee. Danny's jaw dropped.

'...The notorious Danny Phantom is held accountable for the deaths at the Amity Park fast food restaurant 'The Nasty Burger'. The local authorities have issued a one million dollar bounty for the capture of the teenage menace, alive. This is Harriet Chin...'

"I'm going out." Danny stated, preparing to transform. Vlad stood up and held up his hand in a 'stop right there' gesture.

"What? Where are you going? Aren't you going to eat something first?"

"Not hungry, and I'm going to pay a little visit to the guys in white."  
"Now Daniel, are you sure that's wise? It could be a trap – it probably is a trap."

"In that case, I'll just have to be more careful." He transformed and flew off without another word, not even a good bye.

He stopped flying and crossed his arms, floating just above the top of the tall forest trees; he hadn't even gotten a mile away from Vlad's castle yet.

"Are you going to follow me all the way to Amity?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. I know you well enough to have a pretty good idea what you're going to do – something stupid."

"And you're going to what, protect me? That is so sweet, really." He turned his back to Vlad and continued to fly towards his home town. Vlad reluctantly followed.  
"I don't doubt that you can take care of yourself in a fight with the government agents, but they play dirty. You won't be against them, you'll be against their weapons."  
"Which is why I'm taking them down before they become a problem."  
"Destroying ghosts is one thing, killing a human is another."  
"So you're going to stop me?"  
"If that's what I have to do." They stopped flying again. Danny smiled darkly, an expression that Vlad was sure he'd never see on his face.  
"So what are you waiting for?" Vlad's eyes shifted to the patch on his face, before staring directly into his eyes. He clenched his fists and lunged forward, his fist stopping only inches away from Danny's face.  
"Go on, I deserve it."


	3. Chapter 3

The tense feeling in Vlad's body quickly left him and his anger ebbed away, leaving only pity. He used the hand he was about to use to punch him (again) to cup Danny's face, moving dangerously closer to him and placing his other hand on the boy's arm, he was gentle but firm, he wasn't going to let him get away.

"Why do you think that?"

"Does it matter?" Danny shrugged, attempting to pull away. Vlad's reaction was instant, he pulled Danny even closer than they were before.  
"It does matter, you're practically begging me to hurt you. Now tell me." He looked into the older half-ghost's eyes, analysing them. It was strange, Vlad's voice sounded almost hypnotic and his gaze was just as intense.  
"Because... I should have died with them." He seemed uncomfortable and fidgety and surely, those tears in the very edge of his brilliant blue diamonds were a result of the wind in his eyes... Probably not.

Vlad was caught entirely off guard when Danny suddenly pushed away from him, growling under his breath like a wild animal.

"I have to do this. Don't follow me..." he paused, turning around. His voice softened, weakened. He almost sounded as if he might cry. "Please."

--

Danny glared at the army of government agents surrounding him. It was dark, wet and windy. Naturally, he could imagine a thousand places he'd rather be at eleven o'clock in the evening than in the middle of scenic nowhere. The heavily-armed men were closing in and so was exhaustion, he just wanted this to be over.

"Give it up, Phantom. You've murdered over half of our base. Your sentence? You're going to spend the rest of your life in our lab. We've always wanted to experiment a half ghost." The man speaking took a few paces towards Danny and crouched down in front of him, never taking the gun from his head. "And it it's going to be painful."

Danny took in a deep breath, knowing full well that his body probably could not handle the physical strain of the attack he was about to perform. He took one last look around him before a deafening scream erupted from his mouth accompanied by a green shock-wave of power tearing through the offending agents. When he opened his eyes, he saw... an obliterated forest. What the guys in white hasn't already trashed, Danny's ghostly wail had.

Soon after he had reverted back to his human state and found it very hard to focus on anything. He was soaking wet, his hair dripped and his clothes hung heavily to his body. The rain was getting faster and Vlad's castle was at least an hour away, and that's when flying. The water was beginning to frost and freeze on the grass and trees, as for the wind - it was only getting harsher. He attempted the long walk 'home', unfortunately he only managed a few feet before loosing his balance completely and falling, colliding with a tree branch before landing heavily on his side. He rolled onto his back, wincing as the icy ground sent a shiver through his body. He was vaguely aware of a group of people standing over him, one of them kneeling beside him and checking for a pulse. He lost consciousness before he saw who it was.

--

"How dare you loose control of your self like that!"  
"Oh come on, Doctor! He killed my comrades! My friends!"  
"I don't want to hear your excuses. You broke some of his ribs and he has bad bruising. He is clearly weaker in his human state – I look forward to testing his theory in more controlled circumstances. Oh look, he's coming round."

Danny half opened his eyes and looked around. A man in a white lab coat was scribbling something on a clipboard and pushing buttons on a machine that seemed to be displaying his heart beat. Standing at the opposite side of him was a dark skinned man wearing a white suit, stained with blood and mud. He was aware of an acute pain in his stomach, but didn't pay much mind to it. The room was bright, everything was a pearly white and looked brand new. The air smelt sterilized, kind of like a hospital. He tried to move his arms and legs, but had no luck. Thick leather restraints held him in place. He tried his hardest to break them, but they wouldn't move.

"Don't bother, Daniel Fenton. Or should I call you Phantom?" The man in the lab coat said. Frameless glasses rested on his nose, they were tinted a dark brown colour making his eyes hard to see. He had an unlit cigar resting in his mouth and looked very unpleasant. "Those restraints are reinforced with the strongest metals known to man, and just in case you were planning on 'going ghost', that won't work either. We've used the latest ghost technology to ensure that you will never break those bonds." Danny slammed his head against the – well – whatever exactly it was he was laying on. It wasn't exactly what he'd call a bed, more like a dentist's chair but in the shape of a crucifix.

"Who are you and where the hell am I?" The 'doctor', who appeared to be ignoring him, opened a cupboard and pulled out a monstrously large needle, sticking it into a small bottle. A purple liquid filled the tube. He walked over to Danny and squirted a small drop onto his hand. Danny yelped as a sudden burning sensation spread across his skin, it felt like it was trying to pierce itself straight through the flesh. The man raised the needle towards his neck. Danny fought as hard as he could, but instantly regretted it when a rough hand grabbed his forehead and forced him down as he injected the strange chemical, grinning all the time.

"Welcome to hell, Phantom."


	4. Chapter 4

Danny Phantom – Meaning – Part four

He wasn't sure how much time had passed. Hours? Minutes? Or just seconds? His veins burned like the anger in his heart but there was nothing he could do about it. He stared emptily at the ceiling, mulling over how powerless he was to save himself. Never before had he felt so helpless and weak. And that sound... that never ending sound. The beep-beep-beep of the damn heart-rate monitor.

The door opened and in walked the doctor from before, accompanied by two armed men. This time, his cigar was lit, making the whole room stink. He took some blood and checked his pulse, writing it all down on his little clipboard. He shone a torch into his eyes and used a stethoscope to check his heart beat, despite the electronic equipment right next to him. He stayed there for a moment, drumming out the rhythm with his fingers before scribbling more things down.

"You seem awfully calm for someone in your predicament." The man began, leaning over him and glaring into his eyes. Danny didn't return the stare, he didn't even flinch. He could smell the doctor's breath; a vile mixture of coffee and nicotine and something he daren't even begin to think about. "You think your rich foster father is coming to bail you out, right? Don't count on it. He's in on the whole thing. In fact, he's funding it." He waited for a hint of disbelief, hurt or even fear to pass over the half ghost's face. It never came.

"Tell me, how does that make you feel?" He spoke in a deep voice that practically oozed darkness. There was a long pause. Danny wasn't going to give the doctor the satisfaction of an answer, no matter how much the feeling of betrayal nagged at his mind.

"I asked you a question."

"Go to hell"

The man clicked his fingers and one of the guards stepped forward and revealed a gun. The man held it to Danny's shoulder. Bang.

Thick, red blood trickled from the edges of the chair. He gritted his teeth, refusing to scream out. The warm liquid of life was slowly seeping out of him and there was nothing he could do about it, but in his heart of hearts, he knew they wouldn't let him die because that would only be helpful to him. The pain was almost unbearable... almost.

"Go on, Phantom, I want to hear you howl in agony." Danny growled at him, but it only made him laugh arrogantly. "Keep an eye on his vitals. If there's any status change, contact me immediately." And with that, they left.

Danny lifted his head up, sending a wave of excruciating pain to shoot though his body. Just what he needed, a nice gaping bullet wound in his shoulder. Now escaping would be twice as difficult. What annoyed him even more was the fact that they just left him bleeding to death. He spent the next few hours slipping in and out of consciousness. In the little time he was awake, he tried to devise an escape plan. The most obvious was to wait until they unfastened the restraints – that is, if they ever did – and make a run for it.

"Amazing!" Danny forced his eyes to open and found himself inches away from the doctor, who was leaning over him to get a good look at his shoulder.

"Doctor Grey, huh?"

"How did you know that?"  
"Written inside your collar, good old mum." He couldn't stop himself from grinning when a blush spread over the man's face. He cleared his throat and eyed Danny menacingly.

"As I was saying: your body... it's amazing." he continued, running his fingers over the injury making him hiss in pain.  
"Thanks, I work out." Smug.

"Shut up before I gag you."  
"Well if that's how you like to play..."  
"I said shut up!" He took the cigar out of his mouth and pressed it onto the bullet wound, grinding and twisting it in. Danny could stand it no longer, he screamed out in pain, trashing around and struggling to escape from the brutal abuse, an act that was pointless in it's desperation. Even the two guards winced and had to turn their heads. He finally pulled the offending cigar out, discarding it and pulling a satisfied face at Danny. "Where was I? Ah yes, your body possesses amazing healing abilities. This wound is less than twelve hours old and it's almost completely healed..." He sneered and pulled out a walkie-talkie, turning his back and muttering something before turning around and rummaging through a cupboard. He took out another needle, this time filling it with a clear liquid.

A little sooner, another man walked in. He had messy brown hair and looked a little dishevelled. He wore a long white coat, much similar to Grey's but cleaner and unbuttoned, allowing it to flow freely behind him. Around his neck rested a stethoscope and a beaded brown necklace with a cross hanging from it.

"You called?" He said in a broad Scottish accent.

"Yeah, Doctor... what was it? Never mind, I don't really give a shit. Administer this drug, wait for it to take full effect and then have him transported to the dark room."

--

Vlad swirled the sparkling whiskey round and round the glass, staring into it and then at Skulker.

"Of course I can't just swan in unannounced and rescue him."

"Why not? It's not like I care about the whelp, I'm just curious as to what you think you are achieving by leaving him there."

"I'm not achieving anything. He is. You've seen him, he's a wreck. He needs to realise that he has a reason to live; saving him from the guys in white won't save his soul, so to speak. That and that darn pride of his." He sighed and downed the whole glass, hissing a little at it's strength, it's burn. "If I was to save him, he'd never forgive me. You've hunted him for long enough, you know as well as I do that there's one thing he hates more than me, that's being helpless, doomed, whatever you want to call it. They'll push him into a corner and he'll have nowhere else to run but straight through them."

"You have a lot of confidence in him, and you seem to have this all planned out."  
"Clever, eh"  
"No, it's completely stupid."  
"Harsh."  
"No, it really isn't. This plan of yours is crazy, mental, you are nuttier than a fruitcake and the kid was right calling you a fruit-loop because that pretty much sums you up in a nutshell."

"And I ask again, why do you seem to care so much?"  
"Because it's not fair, damn it!" Skulker yelled, leaning forward and slamming both fists on the table angrily. "I wanted to kill that brat. I was his blood on my hands, I want to watch the light leave those sweet, innocent eyes of his as he perishes by my hands."

"I know you do. I doubt you ever will, but you'll probably get a shot at it."  
"Why are you so confident in him? He's just a child. A weak, human child. Without his ghost powers, he's nothing."  
"The same way you are nothing without your suit. He's strong, Skulker. Stronger than even he knows. He could take you down without even lifting a finger, he just doesn't know it yet. With a gentle push, he'll stand by my side as I look down upon my dominion."

"You, ruling the Ghost Zone? Oh please, I've heard this joke before."

--

Danny felt the needle penetrate his skin, but didn't react. The pain in his shoulder pretty much dulled it out. He began to feel drowsy, and suddenly a hard was held firmly against his mouth.

"Don't try to speak, just listen." The Scottish Doctor began. "They are going to perform terrible experiments on you, trust me, I've seen it before. Right now, I can't help you. You're just going to have to endure the torture until I find a way to get you out of here. Look mate, I'm sorry." And with that he landed a sharp blow to Danny's stomach. Old cracked ribs... ouch.

Moments later, he was hauled to his feet and dragged down a dimly-lit corridor. At the end of said corridor was a metal door with a small, silver plaque above the wall reading "2607". The door screeched as it opened and was soon after slammed shut, leaving nothing but darkness in it's wake. Well, that and Danny doing his blessed best not to choke on his own gurgled blood. The room was pitch black all around, he couldn't even see where his own hand was, never mind an escape route. He was suddenly aware of the temperature dropping rapidly. Suddenly, a spray of water came at him from all angles. There was nowhere to turn. It was freezing, literally, freezing.

He found himself curled in a corner, physically unable to move. Another long night, oh joy.


End file.
